Legendary
by LegendaryA
Summary: Just as despair is not born from hope, as hatred is not born from love - power is not born from peace. Three shinobi will be faced with what it really means to become legendary.


Legendary

Prologue - The Storm

A single petrified scream erupted in the night from the tallest building in the Hidden Leaf Village. For a moment, it had enveloped even the piercing fury coming from the thunderstorm that was raging outside. But only for a moment. The shrill echo was quickly overtaken by sounds of lightning bolts seemingly ripping the heavens open.

The scream was enough to bring Mito out of her hypnotic trance as she watched her home become ravaged by what was possibly the worst storm she had ever witnessed. She had been standing in the same spot for hours with an immense, paralyzing feeling of foreboding that immediately consumed her the moment she saw the first cloud roll in. She started to gently rub the center of her forehead in a hopeless attempt to make any sense of the events unfolding; to see beyond the destruction in front of her. All she could hear in the back of her mind were soft whispers. Whispers, that when focused on, told her that something terrible, or rather, something ungodly was taking place beyond the borders of her domain. She soon came to the conclusion that she could do nothing more about the ungodliness of this night. She had done everything in her power to protect the ones she cared about most, and she prayed that was enough. Mito lingered a second longer, and then went to check on what caused such an outburst from the room down the hall.

"Tsunade dear, are you hurt? What was that scream for?" Mito asked cautiously as she walked over to the edge of her six-year-old granddaughter's bed. Her voice had traces of worry, but her face knew no such expression. It was her unwavering composure that could always calm Tsunade down.

"I had...a bad dream," Tsunade replied, still trying to catch her breath. Her voice shaking with each word. Mito stared down at her breathless granddaughter with a strange curiosity. Fear was an emotion Mito had never seen Tsunade wear.

The storm is getting to her too, Mito thought to herself. She could see the sweat glistening around Tsunade's round face with every flash of lightning. Mito grabbed a chair from the corner of the bedroom and brought it over to the bed so she could sit down.

"Tell me what happened in your dream dear," she spoke softly while slightly smiling into the young girl's brown eyes.

"I don't want to"

"But you will"

"But... I can't."

Mito started to rub Tsunade's forehead slowly. "My sweet Princess, we cannot pretend things didn't happen simply because we are scared of them. I am scared of this storm. Shall I just pretend it doesn't exist? That it isn't happening right now? Maybe take a leisurely stroll through the village? Hmm, I could invite Biwako, she sure does love a good walk..."

"No," responded a defeated Tsunade.

Mito leaned in to the young girl. "Acknowledgment is the foundation of courage. If you cannot look at the problems ahead, you will only breed more fear within. And fear accomplishes nothing."

"Okay. Well in my dream...there was a storm," Tsunade started, "but it was...different then this one. There wasn't any lightening but there was more rain. Much, much more rain."

"If it's the storm that's scaring you, you need not worry too much. I'm sure the entire village is a little on edge but the Hidden Leaf will be just fine as soon as it pass-" Mito began before getting cut off.

"There was a voice, a voice that told me to look down" Tsunade broke eye contact with her grandmother, choosing instead to stare at the disaster happening outside her window.

"And when I looked down, I saw the _bodies. _Dead bodies everywhere. Just lying on the rock and dirt in front of me. There must have been hundreds."

The slight smile Mito had been maintaining quickly disappeared.

"I...I saw your body with them. And not just you, I saw my mom too. And there were other people I recognized. It was mixed with strangers and with people I know, but mostly strangers."

This was not a dream that Mito was expecting to hear from her granddaughter. _First it the storm, then it was the whispers, and now her dream. What is going on out there? _As Mito contemplated this, Tsunade continued, taking her silence as a prompt to keep going.

"I started to walk through them, all of them. I watched as the rain poured down on their faces. It made them all look like they were...crying." Tsunade uttered each word slowly trying to comprehend what exactly she saw.

Six year-olds don't have dreams of mass murder. Mito realized that there was no point in making Tsunade retell her dream because in fact it wasn't a dream at all. It was an unnatural visual that had occurred after the appearance of an unnatural phenomenon. This ungodly storm.

"I have something for you" she interrupted.

Mito pulled out a necklace from the sleeve of her kimono.

"Here" she said as she held it out. "This necklace belonged to your grandfather, the most courageous man to ever live."

Tsunade was mesmerized by it's beauty and allure. A single greenish blue stone with two small metal spheres on each side. It dangled back and forth in front of her, calling her name with each swing. She immediately went to snatch the necklace. And just as Tsunade's fingertips touched the stone, a powerful bolt of lightening struck the tallest tree in the village that happened to stand right outside of Tsunade's window. Both Mito and Tsunade jumped.

"Tsunade, don't snatch"

"Sorry"

"You are forgiven. Now I want you to hold on to this whenever you feel afraid. If you squeeze onto it tight enough, I believe you will be able to feel your grandfather protecting you."

She could feel the fear slowly evaporate from Tsunade's aura as she kissed the center of her forehead.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you grandma! I love it! " Tsunade cheered as she started to put it on.

"Your welcome. Now I want you to go back to sleep, okay? We've got to be up early in the morning" Mito stated as she stood up from her chair and headed for the door.

Tsunade gripped her new necklace as she muttered meekly, "Grandmother"

"Yes dear" Mito called back as she reached for the door to close it.

"I think I know why they were sad"

"Why who was sad darling?"

"The people in my dream. I think I know why they were sad. Why it looked like they were crying" Tsunade spoke in a more serious tone than before.

"Why?" Mito reluctantly asked. She had hoped that the necklace would make her forget about the dark visuals that awoke her.

"Because I couldn't protect them."

And Tsunade finished her sentence, the giant tree outside of her window that had been struck by lightening toppled over, exposing the roots. It was an omen in Mito's mind. A very dark omen indeed.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hi all! Thank you for reading my first fanfic. This prologue takes place years about 10 years before where I am going to start in Chapter 1, but I thought it was an important moment to capture.

The Sannin have always been one of the most interesting parts of the Naruto-verse to me and I'm excited to explore the complex intricacies of their relationships and history. We know how their story ends but how it begins is an even greater tale! I hope you stay around for the long haul, as this story will get very heavy. Please Review if you want!


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